Viewing induced abortion through a gender lens: a community-based study from Jamnagar district, Gujarat

Abstract

Background: In a global context, induced abortion is restricted by law and even criminalized in many countries, where as in India abortion is legal but largely unsafe and unavailable. The medical reasons for induced abortion are limited and constitute a small proportion of all abortion cases. Induced abortion for social reasons is spreading all over the globe, one of the major reasons being sex selective abortion. Abortion is used in many countries as a means of family planning replacing contraception. Objective: To study trends of induced abortions among married women of reproductive age group. Materials and Methods: Study was conducted among 500 married women of reproductive age group residing in urban and rural areas of Jamnagar district from October 2010 to October 2012. A predesigned questionnaire was used to elicit information related to abortion. Verbal informed consent was taken from the participants. Result: Women of 13.4% had a history of abortion, of that 49 (73.13%) were induced and 18 (26.87%) were spontaneous. Of the induced abortions, in 36.73% cases, the reason was family completed; followed by 20.41%, 16.33%, and 14.29% cases due to contraceptive failure, for birth spacing, and for medical advice, respectively. Six (12.24%) women had gone for an abortion because the sex of the child was female. In almost one-third of cases, both husband and wife acted as decision maker. Conclusion: Many women seek abortion services to limit family size or space the next pregnancy which highlight the importance of improving the access to quality family planning services. Women have very little say in reproductive and sexual health decisions, including abortion-related decisions, so women should have the rights to take decision regarding her own health.